


the princess appears

by eonflute



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 21:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5601232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eonflute/pseuds/eonflute
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Rebellion is at its final breath. In a desperate attempt to buy time for the last Jedi, Captain Severa leads her men directly into the waiting claws of the Galactic Empire's fleet.</p><p>She wasn't expecting to come face-to-face with the Lieutenant General herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the princess appears

**Author's Note:**

> listen to the actual track titled "the princess appears" from the soundtrack while reading (/watch?v=eXuPAudWMYU) i cry to it every day of my life

Beneath the looming shadow of an imperial Star Destroyer, a lone ship drilled through the vacuum of space with bated breath and shivering hands.

A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of the captain's cheek. She brought a gloved hand to her face, grit her teeth, and forced herself to maintain eye contact with the docking port ahead. They didn't have much time before some too-attentive admiral demanded the scanners be checked. Once their scanning rhythm hiccuped even a little bit with the restart, their deflectors would be all but useless.

"Steady," she whispered, only partially to her co-pilot. She'd thought the Taguel, at least, would be strong enough to stick the landing, but this one in particular paid no heed to the fact that his race had been one of steadfast warriors. His entire body quavered as the pair of pilots lined up their shuttlecraft alongside the port.

"Are we in position?"

Her copilot checked the sensors. "Y...yes, captain. No signs of detection yet."

"Good." Severa clenched her fists around the wheel. "Prepare to dock."

There was a loud hiss as they finally made contact with the warship. Despite her every expectation for their cannons to immediately blast them with a hail of laser fire, the ship remained intact as they forced the port open.

Severa swallowed hard. "Good job, Yarne. I couldn't have done this without you."

He didn't acknowledge her; his teeth were chattering, and he appeared to be fixated to the co-pilot's seat.

"You wait here with the ship. If anything goes wrong, I'll notify you to get the hell out of here and warn General Owain."

"Yes, captain." Courage though he might have lacked, but he made up for it every step of the way with his devotion to the Rebellion.

"Stay safe, buddy."

Severa strode out of the cockpit, tense and afraid. She was only too aware that she was leading these men to their deaths, and yet...

 _It's for the greater good_ , she reminded herself. _Owain needs this time._

The entire crew was staring at her. Waiting.

"Men, women, and variations thereupon," she announced. "Today's the day. Today, we make our final stand. To all of you, I thank you sincerely for the courage it took to volunteer for this mission. I guess it's all too obvious that this has been a suicide mission from the start. Regardless. Do not fear for your lives, for the very fact that you have put them on the line means a brighter future for all of us. General Owain's fleet will be ready soon, but without your help, there would be no chance of our success in this war. So thank you."

Her crew let out a collective breath. For a moment, the entire ship was dead silent; then one soldier began a muted round of applause, then another, and another, until the whole crew was gazing at her through blurred tears and astounding applause.

Severa blinked rapidly to silence her own tears. Now was the time for action, not emotion.

"Now let's show those imperial bastards who's in charge!"

* * *

 

"Lord Marth, we have detected an unauthorized docking at Port 10."

The Lieutenant General seemed distracted for a moment, her back turned to the bridge as she gazed into the abyss of space beneath her.

"I see..." she murmured.

"My lord? Permission to open fire on the docking port?"

She turned, reverie forgotten, expression hardened by the butterfly mask that shadowed her eyes. "No. They are a small crew, no more than twenty. Send troops down there to eliminate them. I'd rather not waste cannon fire on a lost rebel cause."

"You heard the General! Dispatch a platoon to eliminate the intruders!"

Marth returned to her staredown against the endless void beyond her.

"I sense something," she murmured, too low for the rest of the bridge to notice. "A presence I have not felt in a long time..."

She turned back.

"Admiral, ensure that the captain is left to me. I have left words unsaid to the Rebel Alliance. I want to be sure that they receive my message."

"As you wish, General."

* * *

 

Severa hurtled through the closing blast doors, just barely in time to see them slide shut despite her pursuers' insistent cries to reopen the blast doors.

"Should've thought that through, fuckers," she snorted. With the bare few seconds of breather time she had left before the Stormtroopers got through, she took inventory of the situation.

Five out of twenty-one had been shot dead, as far as she knew. Six of her officers had reported that all their charges were in place. After she placed her final charge, they would only need three more before they could detonate.

Minute after minute ticked by, but for some reason there was no sign that the Stormtroopers were making any effort to get through the blast doors. She didn't want to put herself at a disadvantage by opening the doors herself, nor did she want her back turned towards the door or the oncoming hallway. The only solution, Severa supposed, was to shuffle along the wall until she reached her final destination.

The entire Star Destroyer seemed eerily empty, at least on her part. No platoons stomping double-file down the corridors, no droid bleeps, not even a single footstep other than the echo of her own. As the hallway opened up into an emptier-yet room, Severa tried to silence her breaths to match the atmosphere. The vacuum of space came into view through a reinforced glass wall straight ahead, and she forced herself to swallow, remind herself of the mission. Everything would be just fine once she reached the hyperdrive and attached her final charge. Everything was going to be absolutely, perfectly --

"Captain."

She froze. Suppressed memories dug their ice-cold claws into her spine until she couldn't help but shiver.

"It's been a while, Lucina."

Severa finally turned to face her opponent, stiff as she was with fear, only to find herself breathless. The woman before her sounded the same, looked the same, even dressed the same, and yet...this wasn't Lucina. Not at all.

The princess had been all warmth and straightforwardness. Clueless though she may have been at times, Lucina knew what was right for everyone.

Standing before her was a masked mystery, someone she could never hope to see through. Severa didn't know jack shit about the Force, but now she knew what Owain meant when he said the Dark Side was seductive, all-encompassing, _destructive_.

"My, my," sighed Lucina wearily. "You're the first to call me that in quite a while, Severa."

The lone rebel could do nothing but stare at her once-best friend. That was the same getup she'd worn all those years ago, although probably tailored to fit her newly grown form.

"You kept the cape," she noted.

"And you cut the hair."

"I had to. I'm surprised you didn't, without me around."

Lucina gave her a sad smile, so utterly familiar that Severa was nearly thrown off by it. "I managed, Severa. Sentiment demands it so."

"Oh, give it a break already," Severa snapped. "I supposed you're here to kill me? Go ahead. My mission here is done."

A lie, and a blatant one at that. Nevertheless, she knew she could count on her troops to get it over with.

"Severa, we both know you're a terrible liar," Lucina said half-playfully. "You're not ready to die. You never have been, and you never will be."

That warranted a gulp from the rebel captain. "Hah, and what, you are?"

Lucina's eyes were hidden by the mask, but an entire childhood spent together told Severa that the Sith Lord before her was narrowing her eyes in concentration, possibly anger.

"Listen, Lucina. If you're not going to kill me, then I don't see the point of stalling here."

"I'm not here to kill you, Severa. I'm here to get you to _join me_."

The moment of silence that followed was unbearable.

_Join her? Join the Dark Side?_

These were the people that had killed their parents. The Emperor himself had wiped out their whole planet, and Lucina wanted to recruit her?

"You can't be fucking serious!" Severa shrieked. "Emperor Grima killed our parents! Or did you just forget that? I should be asking you to join me, not the other way around!"

"No, you have it wrong," Lucina retorted, her voice a tone of solid Severa had never heard before. "Grima saved me. After my father died, they showed me how to deal with my grief and pain. The Jedi are so occupied with erasing their emotions, it breaks them. The Sith...we _use_ that emotion, and it makes us strong. We do what the Jedi cannot - we _feel_."

"I don't give a rat's ass about you Jedi!" spat Severa. " _Our parents are dead!_ You're asking me to join the same person whose troops shot my mother's X-Wing right out of the sky. I saw her crash. I saw the explosion." Her lip started quivering.

"I don't care what he's done for _you_ . He killed my mother! He killed _Chrom!_ "

Namedropping was the worst thing Severa could have done. Lucina whipped around to face her directly, and extended her hand. Suddenly, Severa felt the ground falling out from underneath her feet, her oesophagus tensing and tightening until every breath was agonizing.

"Don't. You _dare_. Use my father's name like that," Lucina growled.

Electric tension crackled in the air for a long moment before she realized just what she was doing, and released Severa as she clutched her own hand, panting.

"Tell me again that the Jedi can't do that," snarled Severa. "Say it. Because I know that Owain would _never_ try to kill me if I invoked his mother's name." The captain struggled to her feet. "I know you loved me once, Lucina. But you can't say you love me if all you do is let anger and hate blind you."

Lucina drew her lightsaber. In a flash, the crimson blade swept forth, and Severa had to back away a few steps. Even when they were little, Lucina had been a natural with a saber. Chrom had been so proud that he'd willed his own to her.

Falchion was the legendary lightsaber of the Ylissean royal house, glowing a hue of heavenly green that only the crystal they called Naga's Fire could create. Despite it all, the Falchion before her no longer glowed with the light of Naga's blessing, but with the pulsing crimson taint of its wielder's hatred and anger.

"You've changed, Lucina. You've changed so much, I can barely recognize you."

" _Captain, sir! All remaining charges have been set. I repeat, all remaining charges have been set!_ "

Lucina's jaw tightened. "Severa..."

Severa withdrew the charge from her belt, setting it right where she stood. It didn't matter where it ended up, really; this ship was doomed with or without its hyperdrive.

She took a step towards Lucina.

Then another.

And another.

Until their noses were touching, and Severa was cupping Lucina's masked face in her hands. "Let's get this off you now. I want to see your real face."

"Severa, wait, I--"

Metal met the ground with a clatter, and Severa found herself gazing into Lucina's endless mismatched blue eyes.

"I'll see you in hell, gorgeous."

As their lips met, Severa fumbled in her pocket for the detonator.

When her finger met the final trigger, Severa could barely make out something. A message. Was this the Force that Owain was always on about?

 _I love you_.

Tears filled her eyes as fire consumed the world.


End file.
